Napoli, squad cost soars: up 27% in 2025/26, highest in Serie A | OneFootball

Today, Napoli is the club with the highest squad cost in Serie A. After the closure of the summer transfer window, the Neapolitan balance sheet shows a significant increase: the total cost of the players registered for the 2025/26 season has risen to 248.9 million euros, an increase of nearly 54 million compared to the 195.2 million of the 2024/25 season.

Napoli, squad cost skyrocketing: +27% in 2025/26, the highest in Serie A

This is an increase of +27.5%, which brings the total expenditure close to 100 million more than two seasons ago.

Why the squad cost has increased

The figure considers gross salaries (when paid by Napoli) and amortization shares of the player cards, calculated according to the decreasing criterion adopted by the club: higher in the first years of the contract, lower in the following years. The arrival of Antonio Conte has had a significant impact: his technical demands have pushed the club to a new major investment, with a market of 117 million euros in income, only partially balanced by savings of about 33 million between sales and depreciation.

Departures: who left Napoli

During the summer, 16 players left, including definitive sales, expiring loans and new loans. Among the most relevant operations in terms of balance sheet impact are the sales of Raspadori and Simeone, while others, like that of Victor Osimhen, have generated significant capital gains. Since January, however, the loans of Scuffet, Billing and Okafor have returned, with a total saving of about 5.5 million euros in gross salaries.

Purchases: heavy investments to strengthen Conte

The club has welcomed seven new players on a permanent basis:

Milinkovic-Savic (Torino)

Beukema (Bologna)

Gutierrez (Girona)

Marianucci (Empoli)

De Bruyne (free agent, former Manchester City)

Lang (PSV)

Lucca (Udinese)

These are joined by the loans of Elmas (Leipzig) and Hojlund (Manchester United), the latter to replace the injured Lukaku.

The highest paid player remains Romelu Lukaku with 6 million net (about 8 gross thanks to the Growth Decree), but the most significant investment in the budget is that of Kevin De Bruyne, which exceeds 10 million gross per year.

An investment for the second Scudetto?

The strategy of Aurelio De Laurentiis is clear: to strengthen the team to aim for the second consecutive Scudetto, the third in the last four years. However, the increase in the cost of the squad now requires immediate results on the field, also in terms of the Champions League.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.